The Truth About Frugal People (It May Not Be What You Thought)

"Frugal" and "Cheap" are Two Totally Different Things

When one would think of the word "frugal" they automatically think that it is a synonym for "cheap".  FALSE! Cheap people do not like to spend money, however frugal people LOVE to shop.  We just like to shop for signifigant bargain prices.

Frugal People Don't Deprive Ourselves From Things We Want

Cheap people deprive themselves of not just nice things, but things period.  Frugal people buy nice things all the time, we just don't pay full price for most of them. I like to get my eyebrows threaded but at the place I go to, it's $5 on Mondays and Tuesday, but back up to $8 the rest of the week.  What day do you think I sit my happy butt in that chair?  Same with pedicures, I found a place that does them for $15 Mondays-Thursdays, it is $25 over the weekend.  You don't have to deprive yourself of those beauty treatments for the sake of being cheap (if those beauty services aren't important to you, by all means, don't do them), finding deals (even on Groupon) for treatments that you like are easier than doing it at home and it is more relaxing to have someone else do them for you anyway.

 Another way that I treat myself is with a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee several times a week.  A cheap person would frown upon that and not just make all of their coffee at home, but they might reuse the same K-cup two or three times because they are, you know, "cheap".  I have no problem with fixing coffee at home (in fact we have three Keurigs in our house and they all were bought on sale), but while I'm not home, I'm going to treat myself to my Dunkin Iced coffee.  A way that I save with my "Dunkin" habit is that I downloaded the app, so every time I load my card and every time I get an Iced coffee, I accumulate points (for future free Iced coffee).  I also download the T-Mobile "Tuesdays" app.  I am a T-Mobile subscriber and with that app, they offer free or discounted items every Tuesday.  They regularly give a $2 Dunkin Gift Card, so that means my Iced coffee is free on those days.  I also usually plan my "coffee runs" around "Happy Hour" where they sell the iced coffee for $1.50 from 2-6 PM.  I get the same coffee that I would have gotten outside of happy hour, I just got it at a better price.


Most Frugal People Live Comfortable Lifestyles

I live a very comfortable lifestyle.  I have all of the modern conveniences that I need and also want.  I know what "paycheck to paycheck" feels like and I refuse to be stressed like that ever again.  I don't make what some people may call "a lot of money" but I am very wise with what I do make, like most other frugal people.

When I decided that I wanted an Ultra HD TV, I researched it.  I first researched what would be a good size for the wall that I was going to hang it on, I then researched the features that I wanted, decided on the brand that I wanted, then I went on a hunt to see which vendor had the same exact TV for the lowest price.  Frugal people don't just go to Best Buy and buy a TV, no we do our homework, it may take weeks and a lot of sales ads or website visits, but we are going to research how to get what we want for the best possible price.

Frugal People Buy Name Brands

We don't waste our money on fake "Beats By Dre" that may look identical to Beats, they cancel absolutely no background noise whatsoever, and one ear gets a shortage in it shortly after buying them.  We buy the best quality product; the real thing and make it last for years.  We look at it as an investment, so we shop around to see who has them for sale at the best prices.  I found in my experience that Beats, Bose and Apple Products are at their best prices when Target puts them on sale.  Sometimes Target may throw in a free gift card too!  I found that Sam's Club, Walmart and Abt have absolutely the best prices for name brand televisions when they go on sale.  I am not getting elbowed in the eye on Black Friday for an off-brand big screen TV when I can wait until Super Bowl time or Back to School season where televisions are at their absolute best sale prices.  You can have you TCL TV, I'm getting a Samsung and you better believe it will be a better deal than your TCL was.

Even with named brand food and beauty products, 9 times out of 10, there is a coupon for the items that you use the most.  Download the coupon apps, look through your local midweek store circular ads, get the Sunday paper, buy coupons on eBay.  Go to Dollar General with your manufacturers coupon as well as your store coupons and stack them.  Go on a Saturday too, so you can use the coupon to get an additional $5 off your purchase.  There have been plenty of times that my shopping trips to Walgreens and CVS have been free or close to free.  Their store coupons in combination with the manufacturer coupons are clutch and plus both stores love to do BOGO (Buy one get one free) sales.  With manufacturer coupons for name brand items, those things are far more cheaper than the generic version.  I buy Dove soap, not the Dollar General version.  If you look at the shelf prices, the Dollar General version may appear to be cheaper, but with my in-store coupon and manufacturer's coupon, I sometimes get Dove products free.  Same for Gain laundry detergent, Scott tissue, Irish Spring Body wash, Colgate toothpaste, and a few other items.

Frugal People Are Not Stingy

We understand that when you give and/or share, you will be blessed even more in return.  If I find a great deal on diapers, and I don't even have a baby, I will still get them because there is some lady somewhere praying for them and God will lead me to her.  I know that my daughter is obsessed with pink so if I see something rare in pink and the price is right then I will get it for her. Her Keurig was a limited edition pink color. I saw it on QVC, so I snatched it up.  Same with her pink Ninja blender the following year; they had a limited supply on QVC so I bought it.  If you see something that someone else would need or would want, find a deal and then bless them with it. I feel like any opportunity to give or to be a blessing to someone else is an investment into your own prosperity.

Frugal People Have a Bigger Plan

Frugal people have a bigger plan- we want to save our money on things that a lot of people throw money away on.  We either build wealth with it, stretch it, build a nice nest egg for our future or all of the above.  We think for the long term. My particular plan is early retirement.  I am mostly frugal because I plan to retire, fly south every winter in a second residence that I plan to own, travel and just enjoy life without "money" being one of my problems (also, why give your hard earned money away to a vendor when another vendor sells it for far less or if a manufacturer gives you money off?). I also want to make sure that my children and their future children will be blessed by the foundation I set up.  I think the best thing I can do for them now and ever is to teach them financial literacy.  Like that old Chinese proverb says  "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime".


Question Of The Day: "What are your money saving tips?"